


One Hell of a Girl

by infernalandmortal



Series: Memori Week 2018 [3]
Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: F/M, Next-Gen, idk i love all my kids
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-01
Updated: 2018-06-01
Packaged: 2019-05-16 21:57:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,288
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14819628
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/infernalandmortal/pseuds/infernalandmortal
Summary: Every year, Murphy and Emori tell their daughter about the day she was born.Set in canon. For Memori Week, Day 5.





	One Hell of a Girl

**Author's Note:**

> I finally get to introduce you to my Memori kid!!! Yay!!
> 
> Un-edited, so pls don't hate me. Also on [Soundcloud](https://soundcloud.com/amanda-294357193/memori-week-day-5-kidfic?in=amanda-294357193/sets/memori-week-2018), if you'd like to listen.

Murphy can’t believe he’s a father.

He cradles his little girl to his chest and tucks Emori into the part of the blankets that aren’t around his legs. “How’re you feeling?” he asks quietly, mindful of their daughter’s ear next to his chest. 

Emori sighs. Her eyes are exhausted and her face is pale, but her voice is strong. “She’s worth it all, John,” she whispers, reaching up to touch one small, perfect hand.

Murphy bends over, slightly awkwardly, to press a kiss to Emori’s forehead. “I love you,  _ nomon _ .”

She grins. “I love you too, Dad.”

Raven carefully knocks on the door before pushing it open and sticking her head in. “They’re here?” she asks. “And no one told me?”

“Your radio didn’t work,” Murphy points out. “Not my fault you went out of range.”

Raven isn’t listening; she’s giving Emori a careful hug and leaning over to inspect Murphy’s precious bundle. “They’re beautiful,” she murmurs.

“You can hold her if you want,” Emori tells Raven. The mechanic’s face lights up when she cradles the baby in her arms.

“Her?” Raven looks over at Murphy with an impish grin. “You know what this means, right?”

Emori groans. “I’m not taking part in this stupid bet.” She turns to Murphy. “Why would you tell her we would name the kid after her if they were a girl?”

“In his defense,” Raven says, “I did kind of force him into it. In my defense, I was drunk.”

“How about if you two share a middle name?” Murphy tries to broker peace. “And for god’s sake, Raven, give Emori more than three hours to recover from labor before you come to collect.”

“Three hours?” Raven asks. Murphy shushes her. “Sorry. Damn, Emori, if I had known, I would’ve let you sleep.”

Emori shakes her head. “I can’t sleep, not yet. John’s been keeping me company.”

“Are you fucking kidding?” Murphy starts combing the tangles out of Emori’s hair with his fingers. “I’m never leaving you alone again.”

Raven’s shoulders shake with silent laughter. “This kid is going to have a really dirty mouth.”

It’s probably the combination of relief, joy and exhaustion that makes Emori and Murphy start to laugh along.

“But seriously,” Raven says, wiping a tear from her eye. “What are you going to name her?”

Emori reaches her arms up, and Raven gently hands the baby back to her mother. Emori and Murphy look down at their daughter and, as they watch, her eyes flutter open.

Raven smiles. “She’s got your eyes, J.”

“Hopefully that’s all she’s got,” he says softly, running a finger over her soft cheek, the skin a shade lighter than her mother’s.

“What’s a middle name?” Emori asks, still thinking about this whole name issue.

“It’s like a second name,” Raven tries to explain. “Like, you have your given name, then your last name - what your people call a clan name - but the middle name usually means something. It’s extra.”

Murphy can tell Emori doesn’t quite get it, but she’s too tired to continue asking. “What’s yours, then?”

“Victoria,” Raven says. “Means ‘victory’.”

“Oh,” Emori’s face lights up. “Your people do that too!”

“Do what?” Murphy asks.

“Name their children for what they hope the child will be. My brother says that happened sometimes, in some clans.”

Raven nods. “Makes sense.”

Murphy kisses the top of Emori’s head. “I looked yours up once. It means ‘hardworking leader’.”

She snorts. “I don’t know about that.”

“You’re hardworking,” he notes. “Look at all the work you did for nine months.”

“And this little one to show for it,” Raven says.

Emori studies her daughter’s face. “Jova,” she says softly. “It’s Trigedasleng for ‘courage’.” She looks up at Murphy, her eyes full of tears. “Courage and victory. That’s what I want for her.”

“Jova Victoria Murphy,” Raven muses. “That’s one hell of a name.”

Murphy looks down at Jova, at her clear eyes and soft skin. “She’s one hell of a girl.”

* * *

“I don’t want to go to bed!” Jova protests, squirming as Emori tucks her in. “I don’t want my birthday to be over!”

Emori sits on the edge of the bed. “I know, Jo. But you’re forgetting the best part.”

John appears in the doorway, as if on cue. “Did I miss it?”

Jo rolls her eyes. “Do you really think we’d start without you, Dad?”

John holds up his hands in surrender. “Jeez, being seven has made you sassy.”

Emori climbs to the other side of the bed while John climbs in, nestling their daughter between them. The watch John found years ago on the Ring ticks toward 8:03 p.m., the exact minute he said their daughter was born.

“On this night, exactly seven years ago,” Emori begins, “I was lying in bed, holding your  _ nontu’ _ s hand. It was a dark, clear night, and everyone was waiting to meet you.”

Jo snuggles into her mother’s chest. “Did it hurt?” She pokes Emori in the stomach. “I’m too big to fit in there.”

Emori and John share a smile over Jo’s head. “It did hurt,” she says. “But I didn’t notice. I was too excited to meet you, and a little scared that you wouldn’t be able to find your way out of there.”

“But I did!” Jo proclaims. “Obviously.”

John snorts. Emori fixes him with a look. “You encourage her, you know.”

“Do not.”

“Do too, Daddy,” Jo says solemnly.

“Snitch,” John play-gripes. Jo giggles.

“Anyway,” Emori continues, laying down and pulling Jo with her. John snuggles in too, and Jo moves to rest her head on her father’s chest. “You were so little when I first held you. So small, and so quiet. You barely cried; you just looked around with those big blue eyes.”

“You cried, though,” Jo says.

“So did I,” John points out.

“And then you fell asleep,” Emori whispers, leaning in close to kiss her daughter’s forehead. “And I held you, and watched you breathe and thought to myself, if I could keep her this little forever, I would be so happy.”

“But you like me this little too,” Jo mumbles, already near sleep.

“Yes,” Emori murmurs. “I do.”

They wait until Jo drifts off to move. John carefully moves Jo so she’s resting on her pillow, and they both creep out of the room.

“She’s one hell of a girl,” John whispers, standing in the doorway and looking at his little girl.

Emori wraps her arms around his waist and rests her chin on his shoulder, humming her agreement. After a moment, he turns to face her and shuts their daughter’s door.

“I love you, Emori.” He kisses her. “You’re the best mother.”

She smiles against his lips. “I love you too. You’re not so bad yourself.”

He laughs, bending down to lift her up and wrap her legs around his waist. “That’s what I hear.”

She spends their entire walk to their bedroom laughing.

* * *

“Damn it!” Jo yelps, dropping the hot wire. “Jacob Alexander Reyes!”

“What?!” Jake yells from the workshop next door.

“You said it wasn’t  _ fucking live _ !”

“It’s not!” 

“My burned fingers say otherwise!” She shows him as soon as he comes in. “Look!”

Jake takes her hand and presses his lips to her fingers. Jo can feel all the blood that’s not pulsing in her fingertips rushing to her cheeks. “Better?”

“Shut off the electricity next time, asshole,” she grumbles, pulling her hand free from his.

“Who’s an asshole?” Zeke asks, hip-checking the door separating the two workshops as he and Raven bustle in with armloads of circuit boards salvaged from  _ Eligus III _ .

“Me, apparently,” Jake grumbles, flicking Jo’s ear. She dodges, giggling.

“You shouldn’t swear at the birthday girl,” Raven tells her son. 

“She started it,” Jake says without heat. Jo throws a wad of paper at him.

“How’s it going?” Raven asks, looking at the circuit board Jo was trying to re-wire. “Any luck?”

“Half this stuff is pretty fried,” Jo says, “but I think we can get it to connect if our only goal is to make the mainframe’s storage bigger.”

“Wait, we’re trying to expand the main computer?” Zeke asks. “What for?”

Raven glares at him. “We’ve been over this.”

“No, we haven’t!”

Jake and Jo back slowly out of the room while his parents argue. The second they’re out the door, they’re running through the alley behind the crashed ship, all the way into the forest near where Bellamy hides the rovers.

“Wow,” Jo laughs when Jake crowds her up against a tree, resting his hands on her hips. She throws her arms around his shoulders and rests her forehead against his. “Someone’s eager.”

Jake pretends to be annoyed. “Do you want your birthday present or not?”

“Obviously,” Jo breathes, stretching up to kiss him. He-

“Oh, fuck!” Augusta’s annoyed shout totally ruins the mood. Jo hops up on her tiptoes again to glare at her over Jake’s shoulder. “You two aren’t supposed to be here!”

Jo can’t help but laugh when Alex appears behind Augusta. “I guess we had the same idea,” she says. 

Augusta cracks a small smile, but Alex looks unimpressed. “Fuck off, you two. I wanted to go down on my girlfriend in peace.”

“Funny, I had the same idea,” Jake mutters. Jo smacks him on the chest.

“I told you their height difference was adorable,” Augusta tells Alex, who rolls her eyes and folds her arms over her chest. “Fine, we’ll go elsewhere. But only because it’s your birthday.”

“Thank you,” Jo says, only somewhat sarcastically.

“You’re welcome,” Jo’s dad says drily, popping out from behind the rover. 

“Dad!” Jo wants the earth to swallow her whole. “How long have you been here?!”

“I just got here,” he says, shoving his hands in his pockets and blinking at Jake. “Having fun?”

Jake nods, stepping back from Jo. “Yes, sir.”

Her dad rolls his eyes. “If I have to tell you one more time- Listen, kid, it’s Murphy. And while I might be protective as hell of both you and my daughter, I couldn’t care less if you kiss her or whatever. Just don’t do anything without her consent and try to make her happy.”

“I always do,” Jake says, slightly less on edge. “Thanks.”

Her dad shrugs. “It’s Jo’s body.” He looks at her. “Be home in time for dinner.” When Jo gives him a thumbs-up, he disappears behind the rover. “Have fun!” he yells. 

“We will!” she shouts back, much to Jake’s amusement.

After Jake gives her what he says is the first part of her birthday present, they walk back to her home hand-in-hand. When they get there, Raven and Emori are setting the table while Zeke and Murphy stand on chairs in the middle of the room, trying and failing to fix the solar light Raven knocked loose with a broom last week.

“You need to stop doing things,” Murphy tells Raven when he hops down.

“Good luck with that,” Jo says, pushing the chair back into the table. She brushes her hands over the tabletop, remembering the hours she and Dad spent sanding and polishing the wood so her mother could have a place to work on her tech. “Aunt Raven doesn’t slow down for anything.”

“Maybe it’s not best to call her your aunt after what you and Jake were doing in the woods,” Murphy snarks, laughing when Raven’s head whips around. “Relax. I don’t think your kid did it wrong.”

“That’s not my concern,” Raven mutters.

Jo and her dad exchange what Zeke calls ‘the Murphy look,’ and what Raven calls ‘the shit-starting look’. “Well,” Jo says, “for the time being, everything is strictly oral.”

Raven chokes on a sip of water, and Jake, Emori and Murphy can’t stop laughing.

By the time the Reyes family leaves, darkness is falling over the valley. Jo and her mother sit outside, watching the stars peek through the clouds.

“It’s 8:03,” Jo says softly, looking at her father’s watch. Her dad flops down beside her mom, wrapping his arm around her shoulder and planting a kiss on her temple.

“On this night, exactly seven years ago,” Emori murmurs, “I was lying in bed, holding your  _ nontu’ _ s hand. It was a dark, clear night.

“And everyone was waiting to meet me,” Jo says, continuing the story she has heard every year, once a year, from the time she was old enough to remember.

“Did it hurt?” Her father asks Jo’s usual question, scooting back so her mother could lean against his chest, his legs on either side of her. Jo leans her head against her father’s shoulder.

“Some.” Emori smiles when Murphy begins rubbing careful circles on her stomach. “But I didn’t notice. I was too excited to meet you.”

“You were so little when I first held you. So small, and so quiet. You barely cried; you just looked around with those big blue eyes.” Jo sees tears in her mother’s eyes. “And I held you, and watched you breathe and thought to myself, if I could keep her this little forever, I would be so happy.”

“Sorry to disappoint,” Jo says, a little laugh in her voice. Something in her gut twists at her mother’s tears, even if they are happy ones.

“You’ve grown up so well, Jova,” her  _ nomon _ whispers, touching her daughter’s cheek with her larger hand. “I’m so proud to call you my daughter.”

“I’m proud to be your kid,” she murmurs, wrapping her arms around both her parents. “I love you.”

“We love you too,” her dad says, kissing her forehead and resting his chin on Emori’s head. “You’re one hell of a girl, kid. One hell of a girl.”


End file.
